There’s another sequel in the works at Walt
Disney
but it’s not from Marvel. Activist investor Nelson Peltz is making a second push for a seat on the entertainment-and-media giant’s board.
Peltz’s Trian Fund Management has increased its stake in
Disney
(ticker: DIS) to more than $2.5 billion and is expected to request multiple board seats at the company, including one for Peltz, The Wall Street Journal reported late Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The move signals a return to the offensive at Disney for Peltz, who first took aim at the company in January this year with criticism of its costs and a demand for a board seat.
That campaign came to an end after Disney CEO Bob Iger outlined a $5.5 billion cost-cutting plan involving 7,000 layoffs. Peltz said at the time the company was planning to do “everything we wanted them to do.” However, Disney stock has performed poorly since then.
Disney shares were up 0.2% in premarket trading on Monday at $83.04. The stock was down 4.5% this year so far through to Friday’s close and has collapsed from levels of above $100 when Iger first set out the plan to lower costs.
Time will tell whether Peltz’s push is opportunistic or strategic. Trian believes Disney’s stock is undervalued and it needs a more focused board, according to the Journal, having built up its stake in recent months to more than 30 million shares from roughly 6.4 million shares at the end of the second quarter. The early message suggests the activist isn’t immediately agitating for major changes such as spinning off ESPN and ABC.
Trian and Disney didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from Barron’s early on Monday.
Write to Adam Clark at [email protected]
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